Sleepwalking
by emJeanie
Summary: Patrick's concern for a certain person's safety affects his sleep.


Hi everyone!

Ok, so I've read up everything I can about the season finale(I live in England and it's on Friday). Correct me if I'm wrong, but there was some good news for Jisbon fans right? If so, yey!

Thanks for the reviews for fragile, and any other reviews anyone has ever given me. I wrote this a week ago when I was ill. It was either this or Google my symptoms-something a hypochondriac should NOT do! I would of uploaded the story sooner, but I've been very busy with work and illness. Hope you like it, please let me know what you think!

Em-j

Disclaimer: I don't own the mentalist!

Dedicated to Jisbon fans.

Sleepwalking 

The team were staying at a hotel. Their latest case had brought them out of town, and whilst Rigsby was apologising to Sarah and making cooing noises over the phone to Ben, Lisbon had checked them all in for the night. Since they had an early morning, the team bade each other goodnight. Lisbon and Jane exchanging smiles as they parted ways.

Patrick Jane was feeling sleepy. His mind was full of thoughts and feelings. Not about the case, but about a certain colleague. A certain best friend that he would do anything for. It had been almost a year since the last Red John case and part of him worried that he'd resurface soon. He was worried that Red John would target the team. More importantly, he was worried Red John would target her, the wonderful Teresa Lisbon who meant everything to him. He wouldn't know what to do without her. As he drifted off to sleep, his last thoughts were of Teresa, and keeping her safe.

Rigsby woke with a start. Ever since Ben was born, he had woken up to any noise, no matter how faint. If Ben so much as sighed in his sleep, he would be wide awake and fully alert. It took him a few seconds to realise that the noise wouldn't be coming from Ben and that he was in fact sharing a hotel room with Jane. The consultant had reassured him that there was a string possibility he probably wouldn't be sleeping anyway, making Rigsby even more nervous to think what trouble Jane could get himself and/or the team into. Lucky Cho had put his foot down and insisted he had a room to himself, nobody in their right mind would argue with Cho's serious face.

'Jane?' he called out. The consultant was sat on his bed, hands wrapped around his knees and looking into the distance. His pyjamas where all creased, a few buttons undone and his curls wild and tangled.

'Jane?' he asked once again. Seeing the usually confident and brash consultant looking like this got him worried. He seemed fine earlier, they weren't working on a red john case or a case involving a child.

The consultant looked up at him like a lost boy. He shook his head at Rigsby. 'No' he told him, his voice soft and broken.

'No?' asked Rigsby, confused' what do you mean?'

The consultant traced circles on the bedspread, sniffling slightly.

'Not Jane…Patrick. Patrick' he informed Rigsby' Patrick… Patrick….' He kept repeating his name softly, as though reminding Rigsby.

Rigsby looked at him confused. Was he drunk? The whole team had been on the case all day, being from out of town made it twice as hard to get people to co-operate. As far as he knew, Jane had never left Lisbon's side. He smiled to himself at how close they seemed to be getting over the last few months. He observed the consultant once more. He had seemed fine when they entered the room. His eyes were open, yet they were glazed over, the only other explanation he could think of was that Patrick was sleepwalking.

Before Rigsby could ask him any more questions, Patrick suddenly got up and headed to the door. Rigsby was on his tail.

'Patrick wait!, where are you going?' he asked, blocking the door.

'Nooooo! Let me out!' Patrick wailed, trying to grab the door handle.

'Hey Patrick listen to me!' He remembered something about not touching a person that was sleepwalking, but he needed tp stop him leaving. He grabbed Patrick's shoulders, causing the consultant to panic and weakly fight Rigsby off.

'No! don't hurt me! You hurt her! No!' he wailed' no!'

'Patrick I'm not hurting you!' Rigsby reassured him. Only then did Patrick's words fully register ' hurt her? Patrick nobody's hurt!'

Patrick suddenly turned and went back to his bed, beginning to search something.

' save her' he muttered to himself. Hesitantly, Rigsby went up to him, grabbing his phone in the process, ready to dial his boss.

Patrick turned to face him, he looked dazed and confused, swaying slightly.

'Rigsby?' he asked, his voice childlike, with a hint of fear.

'Patrick?' he asked, slightly nervous at what the consultant would do next.

'Rigsby I didn't save her. ' he said, his voice wavering.

'Save who?' he asked, though from the way they were around each other, he knew whose name he was about to say.

'I didn't save Teresa, and now she's gone!' He sat on the bed and started to cry. 'I didn't save her!'

Rigsby watched and the consultant curled up and closed his eyes. Immediately, he dialled his boss' number.

Lisbon was tired. So tired that she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She was sharing the room with Van Pelt. The red haired agent had worked so hard digging for information about the victim. She made a mental note to thank her in the morning, not wanting the red head to feel underappreciated. A loud ringing sound woke her from her dreams. Sleepily, she answered the phone, hearing Van Pelt's groan as she too was woken up by the noise.

'Rigsby?' she asked sleepily' what's wrong?' Rigsby only had to say one name and she was wide awake and fully alert.

' I think he's sleep walking; Rigsby explained. ' He seemed so out of it, like he was drunk or something, but he was fine when we came to the hotel'.

Lisbon observed her consultant. Her best friend. He was currently sat up, his face blotchy and puffy from crying. His eyes were glazed, as if he was in a trance.

'he closed his eyes for a few seconds, but now he's back to being like this'. Rigsby glanced between his two colleagues before continuing. 'Boss he was scared. He kept saying over and over again that he hasn't saved you'. He explained. Before Lisbon could react, Patrick lurched forward off of the bed, screaming Lisbon's name, his eyes looking down on the floor, as if looking at someone that only he could see in his nightmare.

'Patrick!, Patrick look at me, wake up!' Lisbon got down to his level, getting eye contact with the consultant. 'Patrick it's ok, I'm safe'.

Patrick continued screaming her name, crying hysterically.

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Teresa I'm sorry!' he sobbed, hugging his knees. Lisbon's eyes began to fill with tears for her friend.

'boss we should wake him up'. Rigsby's voice startled her, she forgot he was in the room. Gently, Lisbon reached out to Patrick's cheek. 'No Boss-' Rigsby began, worried he might lash out at her. Instead, Patrick leaned into her touch and she enveloped him into a hug, softly stroking his hair to soothe him. After a while, his crying was reduced to sniffles and his breathing became more relaxed.

'Teresa?' he asked shakily, he seemed awake now, his voice thick with sleep and with a hint of confusion. He looked up at her' Teresa are you ok?'

'It's ok Patrick, I'm safe. It's ok honey' she soothed.', I'm right here'. she reassured him, kissing his temple. 'Just go to sleep Patrick, I'm right here.' She began rubbing circles on his back, the other hand in his hair. Slowly his eyes began to droop and he fell back to sleep.

Rigsby stood awkwardly, not wanting to intrude in such a private moment. He wasn't sure if Patrick would remember this in the morning, but he didn't want the consultant to feel embarrassed or ashamed. Rigsby has experienced nightmares about the people he cared for getting hurt and knew that Patrick had nothing to be ashamed about. He knew Lisbon's presence would help the consultant.

'Boss I'll go find somewhere else to sleep' he told her. 'I think you should stay with him.' Teresa smiled in gratitude. He was about to leave when a though occurred to her.

'Wayne?' she asked, the use of his first name got his attention' I don't think Patrick should sleep on the floor so could you..'

She trailed of but Rigsby got the message. He helped her get Patrick back into bed, knowing it would be better for him. The team had become like a family over the years, especially over the last few months since Patrick had confessed to the team that they meant a lot to him. He told them that he still wanted to catch Red John. He still wanted him to be punished, however he didn't want to end his life. Ending his life would mean Patrick would go to jail, and jail would mean he was away from those he cared for. The team were an important part of his life, they WERE his life, and it scared him to think that Red John could hurt them.

'Look after him boss' Rigsby told her before leaving the two of them alone. As he closed the door behind them he knew his friend was in safe caring hands.

'Hey sleepyhead'. Patrick awoke to a soothing voice. Lisbon's voice. His eyes blinked sluggishly open, taking in her beautiful face. He felt her hand caressing his hair, curls wrapped around her fingers. It felt nice. He wondered why she was next to him, and then the nightmare came back to him and he blushed.

'Hey it's ok' she told him' there's nothing to be ashamed of, it's just a nightmare'. Slowly, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. She removed her hand from his hair, her heart breaking at the look of disappointment on his face. He made room for her and she sat next to him. 'I'm sorry' he mumbled.

'Shhh, it's ok Patrick' she told him, gently squeezing his hand ' it's ok'

' It was so real' he told her' you were lying there and I tried waking you up but…' His eyes began to fill with tears and his breathing began to quicken. Lisbon put a hand on his shoulder.

'It's ok Patrick' she told him. ' But what if he gets you?, I'm so scared Teresa, so scared that he'll find the team. So scared he'll find you and-'

'Shhh, it's ok, it's ok'. she told him. 'we'll be ok, I promise'.

Patrick looked around the room. The curtains where open and the sunlight was shining through, illuminating the couple. 'the case-'

'it's ok Patrick, the others are working on it, we can take the day off and relax, just you and me. Maybe go out for some dinner, have a nice walk or find a good little tea shop'. he flashed a small smile at this before a thought came to him and his smile fell ' do the others-'

'it's ok Patrick, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone gets nightmares'. she reassured him. ' they don't think you're weak or childish, they understand.' He smiled, though she noticed that it didn't quite reach his eyes. She started playing with his hair once more. He concentrated on her hand raking through his curls, instinctively moving his head towards her and sighing, before realising what he had just done and blushing a deep crimson. Lisbon giggled ' I'll let you get dressed, then we'll go find a tea shop, yeah?' she told him. Patrick perked up and the mention of tea. 'Sounds like a perfect plan my dear' he told her.

Teresa Lisbon smiled. Today had been a good day. Her wonderful team had solved the case and they were all going back home in the morning. She and Patrick had a wonderful day with each other. A beautiful sunny day, sat outside a quaint little tea shop, discussing everything and anything. Patrick had opened up more about his feelings, about how he truly meant what he said about Red John. That he was set on seeing Red John being punished lawfully, and not at his hands. His conformation had made her heart swell with happiness. They had a nice walk and had found a small restaurant where they had their dinner. It was here that Patrick had once again opened up about his feelings. He told her that the team was important to him, something he had already confirmed months earlier. However he told her that he wanted to know how he truly felt about her. Not just a friend. Not just a best friend. Today was the day Teresa Lisbon learnt that she was the most important person in Patrick's life. She had saved him. Not just last night during his nightmare, but every day. Every single day. He couldn't imagine his life without her. As the two of them walked hand in hand back to the hotel, her head was filled with positive thoughts. When Red John was found, Patrick Jane would be fine. They would all be fine.

That night, the whole team slept like a baby. The case had been solved with no casualties. No near death experiences. No threatening to shoot the suspect. The locals were very grateful for their help and the team were glad to be going back to Sacramento in the morning. Rigsby was looking forward to seeing Sarah and Benjamin, Cho was looking forward to seeing Summer and Van Pelt was just happy to be sleeping in her own bed.

Teresa smiled as she watched him sleep. His features were relaxed, no trace of nightmares. She gently stroked the side of his face, slightly brushing his hair. He sighed softly and nuzzled into her hand. Smiling once more, she snuggled into the duvet and closed her eyes. Having his best friend, the most important person in his life, with him last night reassured Patrick that she was safe. Teresa was happy to repeat that night, although this time around she was more that just his best friend…

The end

Ps: I probably wasn't very realistic but oh well! I decided to reunite Cho and Summer because I thought they were good together! Please let me know what you think, good or bad reviews I don't mind. Until next time!

Em-J


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